A reminder to all families that we discourage students from bringing toys, sporting equipment and so on to school. It is often the treasured items that come to school and unfortunately we can not take responsibility for them. It they are coming to school as part of a ‘Show and Tell’ time then they need to remain in the child’s bag for the duration of the day. Another alternative may be for the items to be kept by the teacher throughout the day.

As per the St John's Campus Handbook, if mobile phones are needed to be brought by a student then a note outlining the need for the phone needs to be sighted by the teacher and the student is to give their phone to their teacher at the beginning of each day to be put away until the end of the day.

From the St John's Campus Principal

Classroom Teachers 2018

Teaching arrangements have been finalised in readiness for the beginning of the 2018 school year and are listed below.

Additional Related Information:

Mrs Puiatti will be moving into the role of PYP Coordinator for Semester 1 and will return to her teaching role in Year 2 for Semester 2.

Our new PYP Coordinator (commencing in Semester 2) is Ms Rachel Muldoon. Rachel is currently working in an International School in Hong Kong and comes to us with a wide range of leadership and curriculum experience. Rachel is originally from Adelaide and taught at Immanuel Primary School, Novar Gardens prior to moving to Hong Kong several years ago.

Miss Nicole Fielke will be our new PE Teacher in 2018. Nicole is also originally from Adelaide and has been teaching Reception - Year 10 PE in Queensland during 2017.

Student Allocations

Please note that any information from parents regarding class allocations should have been forwarded to the Principal by the end of Week One of this term (Friday 20 October). This is to ensure that the school had adequate time to consider the allocation process. Emails received after this date may not be able to be considered.

Please also note that students and parents will be informed of class lists for 2018 on Monday 11 December. This will coincide with their Transition Day when students spend time with their teacher and class for 2018.

Siassi Partnership

At the St John’s Campus of Concordia College we have been involved in a partnership with schools located on the Siassi islands in Papua New Guinea for over six years. These schools are quite remote from the mainland of PNG and generally struggle to access important training for teachers along with the resources that are needed to operate their school successfully.

Our partnership over the years has focussed primarily on investing in the teachers on Siassi while also sharing and celebrating the strong relationship that we have with them as Christian schools. A team of staff from the St John’s Campus recently visited PNG to discuss future directions and also to reaffirm our commitment to the partnership. You can read more about our visit in the attached report.

Next year in March we have invited up to six teachers from Siassi to visit Concordia and be involved in training while also sharing with our community more about their culture and way of life. Our community have hosted three similar visits over the past six years.

We are currently seeking expressions of interest from families connected with our Concordia community who may be interested in hosting up to two of our friends from Siassi in March next year. Details of what this would entail are attached below along with a short video put together by families who have previously hosted teachers from Siassi.

Please feel free to speak with us if you would like more information about this opportunity.

In Week 4, the Year 6s had a fun-filled time away at Mylor Baptist Camp, enjoying the sunshine and the adventurous activities that Active Ed had to offer. The Year 6s showed enthusiasm and stepped outside of their comfort zones by trying new activities. The students supported and encouraged one another during their time away. Highlights were definitely the Giant Swing and Flying Fox. The Year 6s also really enjoyed getting muddy in the Mud Run.

As part of our 'How We Express Ourselves' unit, the Year 4s recently enjoyed a tour around the River Torrens, visiting the Indigenous War Memorial, Piltawodli (where Lutheran missionaries learned, recorded and taught Kaurna) and the SA Art Gallery. At the Art Gallery we learned the messages communicated through the Indigenous art works and the techniques used in pieces of the Tarnanthi Exhibition. The highlight was a workshop where we made our own sea creatures using recycled materials, as part of an artistic statement about caring for our oceans and seas. Thank you very much to the wonderful parents that supported the excursion.

On Tuesday, 5 December, St John’s Campus is having a Casual Day with a Christmas theme. We encourage students to come dressed as anything Christmas related or just in Christmas colours if they would prefer. Students choosing to participate in this event are asked to please bring either a gold coin donation or something to donate to the Lutheran Community Care hamper in their classroom. All proceeds will go towards supporting the work of Lutheran Community Care.

At our campus we are having special Advent Devotions in each class during Week 8 (5 - 9 December). Each class will be given five candles to make their own Advent wreath or path in their classrooms, in preparation for Christmas when we celebrate Jesus’ coming to us. Daily devotions will be used in classes and Pastor Andrew will be leading us at our whole school Chapel service on the Friday morning. We are looking forward to our Advent Time!

If you'd like to get involved in celebrating Advent with your family, download a 'Take Home Sheet' of family Advent Activities from the Lutheran Church of Australia.

On Friday 10 November and Tuesday 14 November, the Year 2 and Year 5 classes were treated to a special visit by Olivia 5K and William 2DP's grandparents Bev and Heinrich who have recently returned from six months in Germany. It was so special to hear all their travel stories and anecdotes. They also shared some footage of some of the special Autumn festivals and cities/towns they visited near Munich, Bavaria (Heinrich’s home city), and demonstrated some traditional German dancing to the students through a variety of photos and clips. Arguably the highlight for all students was viewing Bev’s beloved growing collection of handmade German houses… so intricate and authentic. We thank Bev and Heinrich for the special time they shared with our students, giving them a wonderful insight into current German culture, German language and some wonderful hands on experiences for our students. We are incredibly blessed to have Bev and Heinrich as part of our wider school community.

This term the Year 1 students have been working under the Transdisciplinary Theme of Sharing the Planet, with the central idea “Plants sustain life on earth and play a role in our lives.” Last week we visited the Urrbrae Wetlands to help us investigate “How do plants help life on earth?” We discovered that plants provide habitats and food for animals, and we saw some of the plants that Indigenous people use. We also discovered that some plants are really important in the wetlands as they help clean stormwater. We really enjoyed looking at plant material under the microscope. Many of us tried to look for ‘stomata’, the little ‘holes’ in leaves that help plants to ‘breathe’. We were excited about this possibility as we know that this is how plants give us oxygen! Now we are looking forward to going to the Botanical Gardens and finding out more about why plants are so important.

As part of our inquiry into our Christian Studies central idea about communities and their beliefs, the Year 1 classes decided to visit a local church in our community. We walked to Rosefield Uniting Church one sunny afternoon and discovered some similarities and differences between our (Lutheran) church and Rosefield Uniting. We looked at some of the symbols in the church and heard about their beliefs and how the church is used by the community. Some of our students remembered going to a playgroup at this church. We found that Easter and Christmas are very important times of the year for this church as well.

Our Christmas Market Stall will take place on Friday 24 November from 3pm onwards in the St John's Campus Courtyard. Make sure you come along to hear a Christmas choir performance and grab some delicious treats for your family to enjoy.

The following items will be available for purchases, with prices ranging from $1 - 8:

Families who utilise our ELC and OSHC facilities are invited to participate in an online child care information session regarding several changes to child care fee assistance that will come into play from 2 July, 2018.

Please ensure that you have noted that our Closing Service will be on Wednesday 13 December in the College Chapel.

All students from Year 1 to Year 6 are expected to attend. The students will need to be seated by 6.45pm with our Service commencing at 7.00pm. They will need to wear their summer uniform and during the day they may wear their sports uniform to school. Students from ELC and Reception are also welcome to attend, but they sit with their parents and may wear casual clothes.

This is a very special way to celebrate the end of the year and marks the Graduation of our Year 6 students. If your child is unable to attend, please ensure that you email their teacher to inform them of the reason that precludes them from attending.

Due to the large number of families at the Service, we allocate seating for the Year 6 parents. This seating is reserved for the Year 6 parents and immediate family only.

The Links Committee AGM is being held on Monday 27 November, 7pm at the Edinburgh Hotel (private dining room) - 7 High St, Mitcham.

Nominations will be open for the positions of Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary. With Dale and Michelle Wyman vacating the role of Treasurer after dedicating six years to the Committee, we look forward to hearing from anyone with interest in this position.

As always, we welcome any potential new committee members, and any new faces, and hope to see you at the AGM.